


Waltz

by Roguefemme



Series: Master's Daughter Extras [1]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 03:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12739782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roguefemme/pseuds/Roguefemme
Summary: Asher teaches a lady to dance: a very little lady.Shameless Papa Asher and Papa Jean-Claude fluff.NO I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO POMME DE SANG SO PLEASE STOP ASKING.





	Waltz

  
 Asher pushed the button on the CD player and smoothed his jacket before returning to where his partner waited. He was elegantly dressed in gold and white, an outfit that had been fashionable centuries before she was born. The young lady waiting on the dance floor wore a dress from the same era: a floor length dress in white satin trimmed with gold and silver, a seventeenth century aristocratic lady's gown done in miniature. Even the satin gloves on her tiny hands were embroidered to match.  
  
Naturally, an argument had resulted as soon as her mother got a look at the dress.  
  
_"She is too young for something like that!" Anita snapped._  
  
_"La jeune fille must learn to dance, and for that she must have a proper dress," Asher answered patiently._  
  
_"She'll ruin it! Let her wear something more appropriate to her age!"_  
  
_Asher restrained a sigh, cursing this modern idea that children must wear different clothes simply because they are children. In his time, children wore what their parents did and learned early to take care of their clothes. "She will have to wear such dresses to formal functions in any case. Is it not best that she become accustomed to them now?"_  
  
_"No she won't, because she's not going to formal functions. She's too young."_  
  
_"She is Jean-Claude's only daughter and a part of his court. It is her duty to do her father honor."_  
  
"Her duty _...?" Anita had sputtered, and it went on from there. Asher loved Anita, but she could be a very difficult woman, especially when it came to the intricacies of vampire society._  
  
  
  
But eventually he and Jean-Claude had convinced Anita, aided by the delighted squeal her daughter had let out upon seeing the dress. So here seven-year-old Marvelle stood with childish dignity, adorable in her dress, her raven-black hair swept up in an elegant style and decorated with delicate clips.  
  
Asher stopped before her and bowed with the same perfect courtly grace he would use before Belle Morte herself. The little girl sank into a curtsy, her little hands holding out her skirts, one ankle crossed behind the other. She did well for a moment, then abruptly tottered and would have fallen if not for Asher quickly catching her arms. She seemed about to break into tears until Asher soothed her.  
  
"There is nothing to be embarrassed about, _ma chérie_. You will learn. No one is perfect from the start, and if you have rough spots, it is best to have them with those who love you, _oui_? You know I will never think less of you for your mistakes."  
  
" _Oui_ , Papa," the child said, brightening a bit.  
  
"Remember how I showed you?" Asher prompted her, and the little girl got into dance position, one arm held gracefully out, the other hand up and open, ready to take a partner's hand.  
  
" _Très bien, ma chérie_ ," Asher complimented her, and she glowed. He took her little hand in his, placing his other arm under hers. She was so small that his arm only barely reached down far enough to rest his hand just below her shoulder. "Normally you look over your partner's shoulder as you dance, but I think that will not work so well for us," he paused, smiling brightly enough that it touched his pale blue eyes as the child giggled, "so you simply look where it is comfortable for you."  
  
They began to dance, and though the girl's steps were a bit slower than the music demanded, she made few mistakes. Only once did her little white slipper tread his foot, and her cheeks were pink as she murmured, " _Je suis désolée_ , Papa Asher." He had to smile at her seriousness.  
  
"Entirely forgiven, my dear."  
  
Unnoticed by the dancers, Jean-Claude had come in and was leaning in the doorway watching his daughter's progress.  
  
When the song ended, the girl looked around and spotted him, cried "Papa!" joyfully, and with a child's rapid-fire complete shift of attention, she ran to Jean-Claude. He swung her up into his arms, laughing.  
  
"Are you having fun, _ma fille_?"  
  
"Yes!" she chirped with enough enthusiasm to make both adults smile. "Papa Asher is teaching me how to waltz!"  
  
"So I see. And you are doing well?" he queried. She looked at Asher, who was approaching.  
  
"Indeed she is," he answered. " _Ma puce_ is a natural dancer."  
  
"I'm not a flea!" the little girl immediately scolded him, and Asher feigned surprise.  
  
"Are you not? You are barely bigger than one."  
  
"You're mean!" she informed Asher, crossing her arms and pouting at him.  
  
"Dear me," he said with great seriousness, "What a clumsy clod I am to offend a lady!" He took her small satin-gloved hand and kissed her fingers lightly, his ice-pale blue eyes on her aggrieved little face. "I meant no harm, _ma chère_ Marvelle. You are exactly the size you should be." The child looked unconvinced, and Asher sighed.  
  
Jean-Claude shook his head. "I think you have offended _ma fille_ most grievously, Asher. Must I call you out onto the dueling field to teach you some manners?"  
  
"You're not gonna fight," Marvelle informed them, wrinkling her little nose. "You're just playing!"  
  
"Ah, we can get nothing past her, Jean-Claude," Asher said solemnly. "What can I do to earn your forgiveness, _mademoiselle_?" She looked at him intently for a moment as if pondering whether he was in earnest.  
  
"Don't call me flea anymore!"  
  
He placed his hand over his heart and promised, "As you wish, _ma chérie_. Now may I have a kiss to show I am forgiven?"  
  
“ _Bien sûr, Papa_.”  
  
She held out her arm to him and he stepped closer so the little girl could give him a kiss on the cheek. Asher laughed and kissed her cheek in return, placing an arm around her over Jean-Claude's arm so he held them both. His eyes met Jean-Claude's laughing ones, and Asher marveled for a moment at the family he had never expected to have- not only Anita and his Jean, but their child, with Jean's eyes and Anita's fiery temperament and a solemn sweetness all her own.  
  
He slid his other arm around his lover's waist and they stood together, quiet and content, until Marvelle squirmed.  
  
"I think that a certain young lady has earned some ice cream. Don't you agree, Jean-Claude?"  
  
" _Oh oui_!" she clapped, bouncing in her father's arms. Jean-Claude made an affectionately annoyed sound as he set the child down on her feet.  
  
"You spoil her, Asher."  
  
Asher laughed unrepentantly, "Little girls ought to be spoiled."  
  
"I want _fraise_!" Marvelle proclaimed, to the men's amusement.  
  
"Then strawberry you shall have, _ma fille_ ," Jean-Claude told her. They left the room hand-in-hand, the little girl nearly dancing between her two papas.   
  
  



End file.
